Tints of the Soul
by theBrillianceofNight
Summary: Rewrite of "Journey": Riku Tomoko is your average kunoichi. Sad backstory, precise chakra control- every shinobi has these things, she isn't that special. The special ones are her teammates: kekkei-genkais, false identities, dark curses and legendary titles? And then there's Tomoko, who cannot even mold elemental chakra. So she does what she does best: she adapts.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I do not own Naruto. I am not Masashi Kishimoto._

_The rating is for cursing and blood, so please be aware of this._

_Thank you and enjoy!_

* * *

1

* * *

Scowling slightly, Riku Tomoko deftly packed a messenger bag full of supplies. She fumbled for a moment with a zipper before realizing it was caught on the fabric of one of her shirts. She mouthed a few choice curses, yanking on it a couple of times in frustration, hoping it would come undone by itself. When no such thing occurred, she hurled it across the room, running a hand through her messy black hair and seething quietly.

"Tomoko? Is something wrong?" The voice echoed from across the hall and through her half-opened door.

Tomoko sprawled across her bed face-first, burying her face in the quilt.

"Tomoko?" The voice's owner poked her head into Tomoko's room, pushing light blue hair out of her face. "Why are you trying to suffocate yourself?"

Tomoko groaned, rolling over. "My bag is dead," she answered.

Spotting the bag in a corner, Tomoko's companion walked over to it and began to fiddle with the zipper. A few moments later, the zipper was free and working perfectly.

"Your bag is alive," the zipper-fixer declared, tossing the bag onto the bed.

Tomoko wheezed when it landed heavily on her stomach, hugging the pack to herself childishly.

"Gah. Curse you, Nanami Mayumi," she huffed without any real intent behind her words.

Nanami Mayumi, better known as 'Yumi' to her friends, sat down next to Tomoko on the bed.

"So," she said softly, "this is it. This is really it."

Tomoko sat up and leaned against Yumi's shoulder, nudging her slightly with her elbow.

"Yeah. Are you nervous?"

At that, Yumi snorted. "Nervous? Fuck no. Just—nostalgic, is all. I'm just not sure if I'll ever see this place again."

Tomoko scoffed. "What, you think you're gonna die?"

Yumi snickered. "Not likely. But if we do advance, we may be required to leave all this behind and start fresh if we get recruited to different sectors."

"And then we'd be split up," Tomoko added, voicing aloud Yumi's worry.

"Yeah."

They sat in somber stillness for a few minutes, until Yumi yelped shrilly, abruptly breaking the silence.

"What was that for?" she hissed, guarding her sensitive sides from Tomoko's sharp elbow.

"You were being depressing and weird."

Yumi stared at her friend before breaking into laughter.

"Finish packing your bag," she commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" Tomoko replied with a mock salute.

Yumi left the room, shaking her head. She went down the hallway to the next doorway, peeking in and coming face to face with the room's occupant, who had been about to exit.

She stared owlishly at the boy's uncomfortably close face until the situation completely registered, then she jumped back with a shriek, face aflame.

The boy was in no better state as he leapt away, sputtering.

"Cat got your tongue, Warami?" a blond-haired boy remarked coolly, passing through the hallway.

"Deki," Tomoko called warningly from down the hallway.

"Fuck you, Shimi," Warami Washi spat.

"Not interested," Shimi Hideki replied.

"Next time, you should try 'go fuck yourself,'" another teammate suggested, approaching the room.

"Shut up, Kaida," Washi grumbled, tossing a knapsack at her.

"Ooh, is it let's-chuck-stuff-at-Kaida time?" Kaida remarked, carelessly dropping the bag on the floor.

"Sou Kaida, you better not drop _this_," Yumi warned, handing her friend a large bag.

Deki nodded his appreciation as his pack changed hands.

Tomoko brought her backpack with her as she came down the hall and thanked Kaida as the bag was put at the blonde's feet with the others.

"Where's Kazu?" Tomoko wondered aloud.

Deki shrugged.

"How should I know?" Yumi muttered, crossing her arms.

Tomoko groaned.

* * *

Nisi Kazuyuki was having a wonderful dream. He had just discovered an ancient artifact that would give him an endless supply of power, and he had brought it home and was being worshipped by throngs of pretty girls.

"Kazu," one of them crooned. "Wake up," she enticed.

Another one caressed his shoulder insistently. "Now," she purred.

The first female smiled in adoration. "Seriously, before I disembowel you."

Her words and tone of voice were befit that of a scowl, and the incongruity launched Kazu straight out of his wonderful dream and back into the world of the awake.

"Nice to see that you're awake, Sleeping Beauty," Tomoko greeted, voice laden with sarcasm.

"Oops," Kazu answered sheepishly.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Why aren't you up yet?"

"Huh?"

Yumi then entered and grabbed Kazu roughly by the collor of his shirt, quite literally dragging him out of bed and down the hall before he could properly react in his sleep-muddled confusion.

Tomoko eyed the glass sitting innocently on his bedside table with suspicion. She ran a finger along the inside and set it briefly on her tongue before her eyes widened with realization.

"Washi?" she called sweetly.

"Yeah?"

"You get to carry the scroll for as long as Kaida sees fit."

"What? Why?" Washi protested.

"For lacing Kazu's water with sedative."

"Oh," Washi said.

After a rather caustic dressing-down from Yumi, Washi shouldered the large scroll that Kaida had sealed all of their supplies into.

The group of six exited their house and gathered around the gates of their village, listening intently to last-minute instructions on their mission objectives.

Tomoko chanced a glance back at her home in the seconds before departure, gravitating towards Kazu and Deki and away from the other three.

Then as the gatekeepers pulled apart the gates, she exited through the arch with the same symbol as the metal strip on the band around her waist.

Racing through the treetops alongside her cohorts, Tomoko left behind her home under the cover of the thick mist her village was named for.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I still don't own the Naruto franchise. This is a work for fun and to procrastinate from homework._

_Enjoy!_

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Chapter 2

* * *

Tomoko let her arms hang behind her as she darted from branch to branch, finding pathways through the foliage-bare mid-level branches of gigantic trees.

She could sense Deki's presence immediately behind her, although she could hear nothing from him and his chakra was suppressed. A bit farther back, Kazu was keeping pace. Deki would only travel so far from Kazu, and Tomoko would not go ahead without her team. Tomoko led the way, Kazu regulated their speed, and Deki was the link between them.

Yumi, Kaida, and Washi had their own system, because although they were the same age and shared lodgings, shinobi trained in three-man squads.

On standard missions requiring long-distance travel, Shimi Hideki, Nisi Kazuyuki, and team-leader Riku Tomoko (Squad Thirteen) would clump together closely, with Deki slightly ahead, Kazu bringing up the rear, and Tomoko in between. Deki navigated and used his unique sensory skills. Kazu had fast reflexes to protect from behind, and Tomoko was a specialist in genjutsu.

That was the reason they were a team; Kazu's focus was taijutsu, Tomoko's was genjutsu, and Deki was sensory but expertly gathered information.

Sou Kaida and Warami Washi made up Squad Twelve, led by Nanami Mayumi. Washi would lead, Kaida would protect from the back, and Yumi stayed in the middle. Kaida was practiced at handling all manner of weaponry, Washi was capable of some genjutsu but was especially good with stealth measures, and Yumi possessed a kekkei-genkai that was nearly extinct.

Squad Thirteen was a well-balanced all-around team, versatile and good for just about any mission. On the other hand, Squad Twelve's eclectic gathering of abilities made them perfect for more specialized missions, but their diverse skill set also allowed them to perform a very wide range of duties.

For larger missions, however, they travelled as a team of six; on missions such as this current one, their two teams combined to mesh Squad Twelve's expertise with Squad Thirteen's versatility. They trained together regularly, and so they all were familiar with the skills and habits of the others in their group.

They would travel in somewhat of a line, with Deki and Washi leading. While Deki and Washi bore much animosity towards each other, they took missions very seriously and collaborated well. After Deki and Washi came Tomoko, both for her genjutsu and because she could reprimand Deki and Washi if things ever got out of hand. While Yumi would have been the ideal person for Tomoko's position, Deki, Washi, and Yumi clashed when separate from the larger group, even with the dangers of missions hanging overhead. After Tomoko came Kaida and Yumi, whose multi-range styles of fighting ensured defense as well as a counter-attack in the event of an assault from any side. Kazu came last because of his reflexes and close-range taijutsu, and so their team coordinated smoothly.

On this occasion, though, Tomoko was leading with Deki and Kazu behind, and Yumi was matching step for step with Tomoko, Washi was parallel to Deki, and Kazu kept pace with Kaida. Tomoko, although a rather unreliable guide in normal circumstances, was able to lead because she could best sense the chakra signatures of the group ahead of them.

Squads Twelve and Thirteen were not alone on this mission; this mission included nearly all the genin of their village.

This mission included travelling across half of one continent, crossing a large expanse of water, then crossing borders and trekking through the forests of another country. On the way they'd be threatened by bandits, rogues, thieves, assassins, predators, natural wonders with a taste for human flesh, and all manner of trials.

But if they succeeded in the mission, it would be well worth it.

They would advance a level, be assigned more difficult and specialized missions, collect a higher paycheck, and earn an increased amount of respect.

They might join twelve-year-olds, adults, and many kinds of people in the next step of their careers, the next goal in their lives.

If they were triumphant, they would rise to chῡnin status.

And so, they would not fail.

This was their second day of travel, and they were nearing the coastline. Shaking herself out of her reverie, Tomoko turned her head momentarily to check that she was still even with Yumi. As a result of that split-second lapse in surveillance, she stumbled over a tripwire and went plummeting towards the ground.

She closed her eyes against leaves and the wind, reaching for her ninja pouch.

Tomoko had ten seconds before she would hit the ground hard.

_Nine._ She grabbed some wire of her own.

_Eight._ She looped an end around a branch as she passed, hoping it would slow her down.

_Seven._ She slipped the wire around her wrapped forearm, ignoring the sharp pain of the wire beginning to cut into her skin.

_Six._ She slowed down slowly but surely.

_Five_. She wasn't slow enough.

_Four._ She gathered her chakra.

_Three._ She waited.

_Two._

_One._

She tucked and rolled as the ground came up sickenly fast, using the chakra to sever the wire so she could move unhindered and disperse the shock of hitting the ground.

Tomoko used the inertia of her roll to bring herself up into a defensive stance as she heard laughter, bringing a hand to her pouches to mentally take stock of her supplies. She'd used a twenty-foot bundle of her normal wire, so she had only two bundles of that and three bundles of chakra-proof wire. She had twenty-three shuriken, eleven kunai, fifteen paper bombs, thirty-one senbon, and an assortment of miscellaneous items. She was uninjured but for the cut in her forearm that was beginning to bleed, and her team was sure to be on its way.

Gathering chakra in her hands, Tomoko crouched down and pressed her palm against the forest floor. She dispersed her chakra in a net until she could feel the tremors of wind in the trees and small animals on the ground. She closed her eyes, extending her hearing to reach the places her chakra could not.

She stood up, keeping the net connected by her feet. Tomoko stiffened indiscernibly at the vibrations that came shaking down tree trunks as a result of careless tramping on the upper branches.

Down another thick trunk came the lightest quiver of cat-like feet slipping deftly from perch to perch. She turned her back to that tree, sensing a nearing chakra presence that did not travel by ground.

Tomoko opened her eyes, looking up into the foliage. Her eyes could see little through the dense leaves, but her chakra told her something was approaching.

Sure enough, a glint of metal shone in the darkness, and Tomoko sent off a single senbon. There was a loud noise as the thug, male according to his weight and build, crashed through branches and landed heavily on the ground, sending shockwaves through Tomoko's chakra net.

He stumbled unsteadily to his feet, and silhouettes came forth out of the darkness. Tomoko had a hard time counting the footsteps that trod heavily upon her net; they were terribly unskilled, but their brute force and sheer numbers might overwhelm her if she wasn't careful.

The man she'd knocked down swung a heavy club in his hands. His face was twisted by scars and his smile was unpleasantly crooked.

His grin widened at her quick examination and analysis.

"You're gonna regret that, kid."


End file.
